Sunday, August 24, 2014

Trash-Free Week

After last week's discovery of orange survey markers and spray painted arrows on various trees, I felt it was necessary to return and cover up the arrows. Since I'd just picked up trash the previous day, it would hardly be necessary to walk the trails. I grabbed the mountain bike, tossed a can of gray spray paint in my fanny pack and rode to Hubbard Park. The mountain bike enabled me to cover lots of ground quickly. Below are the before and after photos and I can say with reasonable certainty that I covered all the markings. The gray paint weathers nicely and in short time will blend in with the tree bark well.

Ooops! I started spraying over this arrow prior to taking a "before" photo!

The gray base paint you see on this rock was my earlier work brush painting over some graffiti-it's a never ending battle.

Just like that-BANG! ZOOM! and I was done, outta there and riding home.

The reason I couldn't pick up trash this weekend is my car was in the shop for service. The logistics of carrying street clothes and securing the bike at Hubbard Park weren't practical in my eyes.

I almost gave up on doing anything at all this weekend until I found an alternative task and mode of transportation.

There were some trees in Hubbard Park which needed tending to. I decided to put my chainsaw in my backpack, ride my mountain bike to Hubbard Park and tackle those duties on Sunday morning before there would be much activity on the road to Castle Craig and on the trails. Carrying the chainsaw on my mountain bike isn't the most comfortable, but it would have to do.

I June I reported on my clearing a broken tree which was obscuring the view of a caution sign on the descent from Castle Craig. I all but forgot about what I felt was an incomplete job, even after a return visit, because while the branches were gone, the base was still standing. I only remembered it while riding up the road. With the chainsaw on board, I could now complete the task.

Here are the before and after photos.

On to the next objective.

Last week I told you about a hemlock which had fallen slightly into the road. While I moved it aside, it was still an eyesore. I cut it up into 16" pieces and tossed it into the woods.

I threw the chainsaw back in the backpack and rode to Castle Craig, to the last tree.

Within a stone's throw of Castle Craig, this tree had fallen across the Blue Trail some time ago. I had then cut the branches to clear the path but the tree appeared to sag with time, encroaching on the trail all the more. It was time to permanently remove it.

Castle Craig is to the left in the photo, and the cliff view southwest is in the background.

My reward for all this uphill work was the ride down the road from Castle Craig!

2 comments:

Neither do I, but it certainly wasn't simple vandalism. The survey markers followed several trails, but some were too steep and rocky for anything but foot traffic. One spray painted mark said ".6 m" but if that meant 0.6 miles, I couldn't figure out whether that was to the start or end. The markers ended at an unusual spot, too.